The distance between L, O,V and E is a love letter to love and all the forms it takes. With an ensemble of performers numbering from 6-35, it takes us through all the forms love takes on from first meeting to saying goodbye. Through small scenes, vignettes, movement pieces and monologues, the audience is taken through the the lives of adverse collection of people - different in age, gender, sexual orientation, social status and ethnicity all showing the common elements of love that we all have in common regardless of who we are. Throughout the show there are quotes that have been gathered from real people as the play was developed, however the script does have the flexibility for the producer to use different quotes.
Stages of love include: Love at First Sight, Puppy Love, Obsessive Love, Physical Love, Interracial Love, Rumoured Love, Parenting Love, Love Holding On, Breaking Love, Just Friends Love, For The Love Of Pets, Love Never Dies, Family Love, and Letting Go of Love.
Performed by high schools in Canada and the United States from 2006 onwards.
Keywords: love, interracial, diversity, movement, school, emotion, scenes, vignette, relationships, One Act, competition, Comedy, variety, collage
Genre: Dramatic Comedy, Play with Music
Acts: 1
Run time: 60 minutes
Suitable for students 14+
Cast size: 6 - 42 actors
Casting notes from the playwright: "With 6 performers there is extensive doubling. With 42 performers everyone has a small part of the larger collective. While I did write the cast with certain genders and ethnicities in mind, please do not feel that that has to be a hard line. There are a few that have been successfully changed from the version in this script to reflect different sexual orientations or ethnicities. Before you look to change these, please keep in mind the question - will this change the narrative? For instance, in the scene Interracial Love, the family has been portrayed as African American, Caucasian and Middle Eastern. In the physical love section, productions have played both straight and gay relationships. All were successful because the pressures associated with interracial love can be real for any two cultures. Please don’t make changes for the sake of making a political statement - make the change because for your show, it works best to tell the story. I have calculated that this show could be done with as few as six people with significant doubling. The original cast had forty two cast members, so there is lots of room for casts of varying size."